Avalon and fumes????

[hcross888]

I booked a Rhine cruise in July 2009 and am concerned about the posts concerning fumes. My cabin is in the back (aft?) of the ship. I know there is one unhappy poster, but has everyone had trouble with this?

[Bill S]

If you are sailing on the Avalon Imagery, you will not have to worry about diesel fumes, IMO.

We sailed this month on Avalon's Tranquility, a sister ship of the Imagery, in that they use identical propulsion units. The engines and exhausts are at the extreme aft end of the ship, in a unit of the ship that is detachable. It is almost as though the propulsion section is a separate element of the ship.

We never heard or felt the engines, nor did we smell any fumes at all. You will feel the vibration of the forward/bow thruster when the ship is docking or maneuvering while entering/departing locks, but there are no exhaust fumes associated with the operation of the thruster.

We thought the Tranquility was a beautiful and very comfortable river cruise ship and that Avalon gave us a great experience. I hope you will enjoy your cruise! :)

[BigGuy25]

I believe the problem existed on the brand new Avalon Scenery (it also has the new quiet rear engines). That said, we were on the Scenery in October and they simply kept the doors to the aft lounge closed (you could still go in and out through them but they were never left wide open). We had no problems. You did get a bit of "fumes" smell occasionally when you went through the many locks that we traversed on the Rhone and the Saone ... but on those occasions they dissipated quickly. We were told that Avalon was going to deal with the fume issue over the winter months. I'd return for a cruise on the Scenery in a heartbeat. We had a fabulous time!!

[letsgo39]

DH and I also cruised on The Tranquility in 2007 from Budapest to Amsterdam and had no problems at all. We were in Cabin 319 and thought it was a fantastic vacation.The only noise we ever heard was from the bow thrusters going into the locks and docking. The Tranquility and The Imagery are identical and I have not read any complaints regarding either one. I believe the problem has been with the newly built ship Scenery which was new in 2008. The design is different for the Scenery than for The Tranquility and The Imagery. I am sure you will enjoy your cruise on The Imagery.